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Pac-12 Power Rankings: Week Two

Here’s a look at the power rankings that Drew, Parker, Adam, and I have compiled after the second week of Pac-12 games (delta in parentheses):

Colorado, 5-0 (-): After a 4-0 opening week that got Colorado into the national Top 25 rankings, the Buffaloes only played one game in week two. It wasn’t always easy on Sunday night against Air Force, but Tad Boyle’s squad went on a 13-3 run halfway through the second half to put away the Falcons and cruise to a 15-point victory. Freshman forward Josh Scott led the way with 20 points for Colorado. This was a nearly unanimous pick, with only Drew not picking the Buffs at number one. They now have a warm-up game against Texas Southern before traveling to play a good Wyoming squad on Saturday. Up Next: 11/27 vs. Texas Southern.

Arizona, 3-0 (-): Just like Colorado, it was a one-game week for Arizona, who has only played three games since the nationwide opening night back on November 9. But the Wildcats continued their winning ways, throttling a Long Beach State team that hung with North Carolina for 30 minutes. An 18-3 run late in the first half erased any doubt about the outcome, and UA cruised to a dominating 94-72 win. The Cats easily managed their way through their first three mini-tests, dispatching Charleston Southern and UTEP before the 49ers. The 3-0 start has been good enough to boost them to ninth in the nation in the AP/Coaches polls. Zona now gets a small reprieve against in-state rival Northern Arizona before going into a rough four-game stretch through early December. Up Next: 11/28 vs. Northern Arizona.

California, 6-0 (^1): The team that has won the most games so far in 2012-13 comes in at number three after two weeks of play. All three of California’s week two wins came in the DirecTV Classic, where it got two less-than-impressive wins before dominating a solid Pacific team in the classic final. Justin Cobbs was undoubtedly the player of the week in the conference, averaging 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game in Anaheim. The Golden Bears’ perfect record will be put to the test in their next three games, when they go to Wisconsin and host UNLV and Creighton in Berkeley. Up Next: 12/2 @ Wisconsin.

Oregon, 5-1 (^1): Oregon got maybe the conference’s biggest non-conference road win in what, two or three years, on Friday? The Ducks went into one of the most hostile environments in the country and pulled out a 83-79 win against UNLV, building their record to 5-0 on the season. They’d eventually lose a hard-fought battle with Cincinnati the next night, but the fact that they were a couple bounces away from knocking off back-to-back ranked opponents in the same weekend was enough to boost them up a notch in this week’s rankings. Freshman guard Damyean Dotson was the surprise of the weekend, averaging 14 PPG. If he can continue that kind of production in the coming weeks, Oregon’s schedule sets up so it can escape non-conference play with only one loss. Up Next: 11/29 vs. UTSA.

Arizona State, 4-1 (^5): Through the terrific play of freshman point guard Jahii Carson and an upset over Arkansas, Arizona State made the largest leap in the brief history of these power rankings this week. After the win over the Razorbacks on Friday, the Sun Devils hung with #14 Creighton before falling apart on defense in the final five minutes. Still, it was an impressive weekend for Herb Sendek’s bunch in Vegas, and we reward them with an upper half P12 PR placement.Up Next: 11/28 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

UCLA, 4-2 (٧3): Here we go again. Another year, another early season head-scratching loss for Ben Howland’s Bruins. After starting the week with a split in New York City, UCLA returned home and was dropped by Cal Poly via a huge second half comeback and poor choices down the stretch. Up Next: 11/28 vs. Cal State Northridge.

Oregon State, 4-1 (^1): There was only time for one game this week for Oregon State, who got to travel cross-country and eat Thanksgiving dinner in the White House on Thursday. On the court itself, the Beavers took care of business against Montana State for a 78-65 win. While some may look at the awful Bobcats squad and say they should have won more easily, this was OSU’s first time out without the services of senior center Angus Brandt, who is out for the season with a torn ACL. Up Next: 11/30 vs. Kansas in Kansas City.

Stanford, 4-3 (٧2): It was a tough week in paradise for Stanford, who saw its upper half ranking plummet two spots after dropping two games in Nassau. The two losses weren’t bad by any means (single-digit defeats at the hands of Missouri and Minnesota), but we had higher expectations for Johnny Dawkins’ squad. Up Next: 11/28 vs. Seattle University.

USC, 3-3 (٧2): USC also drops a couple of places after the Trojans saw their spotless record acquire three blemishes in the course of seven days. Saving the week from utter disaster was a 59-53 overtime win in Lahaina against Texas on Tuesday afternoon. Up Next: 12/3 @ Nebraska.

Utah, 4-1 (^2): There’s always cause for celebration when Utah claws its way out of the Pac-12 basement, so they should be doing exactly that after winning three games they would have lost last season. Sophomore center Dallin Bachynski has been the star in the young campaign, averaging 13.2 points and nine rebounds per game so far. However, things are bound to get a bit tougher for Bachynski and the Utes, who face back-to-back road games in the state of Texas this week. Up Next: 11/28 @ SMU.

Washington, 2-3 (٧2): It’s the start of Washington-fest for the final two spots of our rankings. Up first are the Huskies, who were dominated by Colorado State at home in their only game of the week. Up Next: 11/28 vs. Saint Louis.

Washington State, 3-3 (٧1): Washington State drops a spot to number 12 after going 1-2 in the second week of the season. The lone win came on Saturday, when the Cougars held Arkansas-Pine Bluff to just 38 points in a 28-point victory. Up Next: 11/28 vs. Idaho.